Five Times Jane Was Maura's Plus One
by romana2525
Summary: Just five little stories about Jane and Maura that I wrote between first and second season.
1. Wingman

**SUMMARY: Everyone needs a wingman now and then, even if they don't know what that is.**

**COMMENT: First in a series. I wrote these stories between first and second season as an exercise to see if I could get the characterizations and voices right, particularly the way the characters verbally interact. The characters are very much first season version in my mind, particularly Maura (I'm not sure this story works anymore given second season Maura, but it is what it is). Enjoy!**

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><p>It was the top of the fourth quarter when Jane's cell phone rang.<p>

"Just ignore it," Frankie said peevishly. "You're not on call. It's probably just Ma."

Jane looked anyway. "It's Maura," Jane said, pressing the button with her thumb. "And I saw that," she said, pointing accusingly at her brother as he rolled his eyes.

"Maura, hey, what's up?"

"Jane, can you come down here right away?"

"What? No, I'm watching the game. Why would I come down to your medical conference anyway?"

"Please?" Maura begged. "It's really important. I'll explain when you get here. Wear that black dress your mother bought you, and just tell them at the door you're my guest." With that, she was gone.

"Maura, wait!" She was just starting to call Maura back when Frankie grabbed the phone out of her hand with a smirk.

"Please, Jane," he sang.

"Shut up!" Jane yelled, making a grab for her phone.

"Better hurry, Janie. Wouldn't want to keep Maura waiting," he added.

They wrestled for the phone for several minutes, before Jane was able to pry it out of his hands. "Fine!" she yelled over her shoulder as she headed for her bedroom. "Go home and watch the game at your place."

"Yeah, you got someplace better to be," Frankie yelled back with a laugh, turning the TV off. She heard him close the apartment door behind him a few seconds later.

Grumbling, Jane rifled through her closet and pulled out the garment bag holding that black dress. "Shoes, shoes," she muttered rummaging around on the floor of the wardrobe until she found a pair of black pumps. "This better be good, Maura," Jane grumbled, as she struggled into the clothes.

The convention center was a ten minute drive from Jane's apartment. It took another fifteen for Jane to find a parking space, so it was well over half an hour later when she walked into the lobby. She could hear music and the buzz of conversation coming from one of the large ballrooms to the right. Jane made her way in that direction. A sign indicating that this was the reception for the forensic pathology society conference stood on a wooden stand.

"Jane Rizzoli," she said to the young man seated at the table. "I'm with Doctor Maura Isles."

He flipped through several pages of names. "Right there," Jane said, pointing to where her name had been handwritten at the end.

"Go right on in, Doctor Rizzoli," he said with a smile. "Enjoy the party."

Doctor Rizzoli, Jane thought with a small laugh. Thank God Frankie hadn't been around to hear that. He'd never let her live that one down.

Jane found Maura standing at a linen covered cocktail table between two men. Catching sight of Jane, Maura favored her with a dazzling smile. Jane had to admit, she looked amazing, even for Maura. She wore a blue silk dress with an almost hypnotizing array of delicate silver patterns woven into the fabric. A dusky gray shawl was draped casually over her arms and hung with casual elegance down her back.

"Jane," Maura said, grabbing her arm as she stepped closer. "I'm so glad you could make it. You look beautiful."

"So do you," Jane said, glancing over at the two men. One was tall with blond hair and a dimpled smile. The other was shorter than all of them, with a receding hairline.

"Maura, please introduce me to your gorgeous friend," the blond said. His voice was deep and smooth, and his smile was dazzlingly white. His face creased into dimples when he smiled, making him look even more charming. Jane took an immediate dislike to him.

"Sam, this is my colleague Detective Jane Rizzoli. Jane, I'd like to introduce you to Doctor Sam Philips and Doctor James Costas. They're both in the pathology department at The Cleveland Clinic."

"Such a pleasure," Sam said, clasping Jane's hand with both of his and holding it for a moment while looking into her eyes. "I had no idea homicide detectives were so beautiful here. I may have to rethink my career choices," he said, laughing at his own joke.

Jane gaped at him. Was he for real?

Doctor Costas also shook her hand, and smiled at her. "May I buy you a drink, Detective?" he asked. Jane searched his face for the same smarmy attitude his friend seemed to radiate, and didn't find it. Instead, she saw intelligent, kind gray eyes and a sincere smile.

"That would be lovely, James" Maura said. She glanced over at Sam. "I could use a refill, too," she added sweetly.

As the two men made their way to the bar, Jane turned to Maura and glared at her. "I better not be here for the reason I think I'm here for," she warned.

"I need you to keep him busy," Maura said, quickly.

"I knew it! You brought me here to be your wingman," Jane accused.

Maura opened her mouth to retort, then stopped, a confused frown on her face. "I can't fathom any context in which that term would apply to this situation."

"It's not happening, Maura," Jane said obstinately. "No, just no. That guy is a creep, and if you want him you're on your own." Jane couldn't believe Maura was interested in Sam, no matter how physically attractive he was.

"Just talk to him for twenty minutes. I've been trying to sit down with James since yesterday. He's developed a new analysis technique for mold and I want to discuss it with him. But Sam won't leave me alone."

"I told you-Wait, what?" Jane gaped at her. "You want me to keep Sam busy while you talk shop with James?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Just for a little while," Maura pleaded. "Please," she added, batting her eyes at Jane. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Before Jane could pursue that line of thought, the men returned with their drinks. As Sam's back was turned to them both, Jane caught Maura's eye and tried not to scowl as the other woman gave her a wide-eyed look and quirked her lips.

Inwardly, Jane sighed. While a part of her was relieved Maura wasn't interested in this jerk, she didn't relish the thought of spending even five minutes talking to him, let alone twenty. But Maura was already looking at James with such an open, enthusiastic expression on her face, that Jane didn't have the heart to do anything but humor her friend.

"So, Sam," Jane began, forcing herself to smile. "The Cleveland Indians were pretty pathetic this year, don't you think?"

At his expression, all Jane could think was that Maura was going to owe her big for this.


	2. Peak Shift

**SUMMARY: Peak, shift, a phenomenon in which the peak of an excitatory generalization gradient shifts away from the S+ in a direction opposite the S- when the discriminative stimuli are intradimensional. I always wanted to use this as a title for a story. :) Also, the role of the peak shift phenomenon in aesthetics is a real thing.  
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**COMMENT1: Second in a series. The challenge here, honestly, was to write this without making Maura seem like a complete asshole. :P Seriously, this one completely got away from me. I had something fairly different in mind when I sat down to write it, but this is what came out instead. This is another story that I'm not sure works as well in light of season 2 Maura, but there it is. This is my favorite story of this series.  
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**COMMENT2: These are all loosely-connected one-shots. They are all more or less stand alone stories, but it is best to read them in order. Comments and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.**

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><p>"Come on, Maura," Jane said good-naturedly, holding up the preliminary toxicology report. "You can be more specific than 'unidentified substance,' can't you?" They were seated at Jane's desk reviewing the details of their latest case. Maura had completed the autopsy on the young woman an hour ago, and they were discussing the results while waiting for the crime lab data to come back. They had decided to eat at Jane's desk as they discussed the file rather than go out. The bullpen was presently empty, save for themselves, everyone else out on cases or at lunch.<p>

Maura shook her head. "No, I can't."

"Wasn't there anything on the body to suggest it might be poison?" Jane needed a lead, and this looked to her to be the most likely bet. But Maura wasn't giving her enough to go on just yet.

Maura thought about it for a moment. "Some toxins have a unique constellation of symptoms. Ciguatoxin, for example, is released by dinoflagellates which are consumed by fish, such as red grouper. Ciguatoxin produces several interesting symptoms in humans, including a reversal of hot and cold sensations on the skin and…"

"And none of that helps us because our Jane Doe can't tell the difference between hot and cold anymore, Maura," Jane said quickly to halt the flow of information she knew was coming.

Maura pursed her lips. "Other toxins present with a variety of symptoms and it's often hard to tell them apart without more careful testing. All of which I've ordered in the follow-up. Until then, you'll have to settle for 'unidentified substance.'" She smiled sympathetically at Jane.

"You're only doing this because I made you call that rust-colored stain blood the other day," Jane muttered. She cashed in on the deal they'd made at the marathon the other day, when they'd been called in for the body of a forty-five year old man who had been found face down in his pajamas in his living room. There'd been a stain on his collar which was obviously blood, and Jane had badgered her until she'd finally acquiesced. The way Maura's face had contorted as she said the word "blood" still made Jane laugh, and she wished she'd had a camera. Now, Jane was sure Maura was getting back at her, even though she'd been right; the blood had come from an ice pick that had been shoved into the guy's ear then removed. For some reason, whoever had done it had carefully wiped most of the blood away, and they'd yet to figure out why.

Jane blinked twice, willing herself not to get sidetracked by another case. "You're not even ruling her death a homicide?" Jane glanced up at Maura, looking at her from over the autopsy report.

Maura was beginning to get exasperated, Jane could tell. "All I can say definitively is that there were substantial quantities of an unknown chemical in her bloodstream. There's no indication that she was forced to consume any of it, and no needle marks or bruises on her body."

"But she could have been forced to take it at gunpoint. Or not known it was poison by someone who gave it to her."

"Speculation, Jane," Maura admonished.

"I don't know, Maura, I just have a feeling about this one," Jane said, sorting through the paperwork again before studying the photograph of the victim carefully.

"Feelings are not admissible in court."

"Yeah, well sometimes I think they should be." Jane glanced up at movement by the entrance of the bullpen. "Ma, what are you doing here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd bring you some lunch," Angela Rizzoli said, strolling over to Jane's desk.

"Hello, Mrs. Rizzoli," Maura said, smiling.

"Maura, how nice to see you."

"You just happened to be in the neighborhood?" Jane asked, skeptically. That was unlikely, Jane knew.

Angela made a face at Jane. "Carla Talucci and I were at the museum. See, I brought you a fifteen dollar sandwich from there." She held up a bag with "Museum of Fine Arts" emblazoned on it. "It better be a work of art for that price," Angela said to Maura, who smiled.

"Why were you at the art museum?" Jane asked. "And with Carla Talucci? You can't stand her."

"That's not true," Angela said. "Besides, she's much nicer to be around now that her colitis has cleared up. In more ways than one."

Jane rolled her eyes.

"It can be unpleasant," Maura said, sympathetically. "It's caused by inflammation of the large intestine, which can produce diarrhea, abdominal bloating, and bloody stools."

Both Jane and Angela stared at Maura for a second. "Thanks, Ma," Jane said, grabbing the sandwich bag from her mother and tossing it into her desk drawer. "I'll just save this for later, when my appetite comes back."

"Oh, I brought you this, too," Angela said, fishing out a smaller paper bag from her purse. "I saw it in the gift shop, and it reminded me of that artist you like, so I bought it for you." She handed it to Jane.

Jane pulled a postcard print of a painting of a woman running through a field. The colors were vibrant, and the features of the woman were exaggerated, though not quite to the point of caricature. "Ma, this is nothing like her work," Jane said, tossing the postcard down onto her desk. "Why are you really here?"

Out of the corner of her eye, as she waited for her mother to reveal the real reason she was here, she watched Maura pull the postcard to her, and study it intently.

"What? I brought you lunch," Angela said. "Which it wouldn't kill you to thank me for, by the way. And I figured since I was in the neighborhood, I'd just make sure you were coming to Sunday dinner," she admitted after Jane glared at her.

"What? I always come to Sunday dinner. Why is it so important I be there?" Jane asked. Then her eyes widened in horror. "Who did you invite? Who are you trying to set me up with?"

"It's a surprise," Angela said, smiled brightly at Jane.

"No," Jane said, raking her hand through her hair. "Ma, no. Just no. No. Sunday dinner is family time. Not…get Jane hitched time."

"It can be both," her mother said.

Jane leaned back, and glanced over at Maura, who had lost interest in the postcard and was staring at them, her expression half confused, half amused. "Besides, I can't come," Jane said. "Maura and I have plans, isn't that right, Maura?"

Maura sat up a little straighter, panic creeping into her eyes as she shook her head slightly at Jane, lips parted. "Yeah, Ma," Jane continued, not giving her time to speak. "We've been planning it for weeks, so I guess you'll just have to have Sunday dinner without me."

"What have you been planning for weeks?" Angela said, suspiciously. "You know you're supposed to be home for dinner every Sunday. Maura, what is happening on Sunday that's so important?"

Inwardly, Jane cringed. She should never have put Maura in this position, but she was the only one here. And Maura looked like a deer caught in headlights as Angela glared at her. Jane gave Maura a wide-eyed stare and quick jerk of her head, willing her to figure out some way to cooperate, just this one time.

"There's a…" Maura began, weakly, her eyes darting around the room, as if she was looking for a way to escape. "An exclusive showing on Sunday at an art gallery that I've been invited to," Maura began. When Angela frowned at her, Maura added "Emily Cecile," as if that explained everything.

The name caught Jane completely by surprise. "Really? I love her stuff," she said, genuinely interested, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to know all about this. "I mean, yeah!" she said, trying quickly to cover, and looked back up at her mother. "And you know how much I like her work, Ma, so…"

At that, Maura, who had paled considerably, looked over at Jane with interest. "You like Emily Cecile's work? How come I don't know this?" Her voice was filled with wonder.

Jane waved her hands, trying to shush her, but it was too late. "I see how it is, Jane Marie Rizzoli! Lying to your mother! And getting Maura to lie for you, too! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Technically, nothing I said was a lie, Mrs. Rizzoli," Maura said, quietly. At Angela's glare, she quickly went back to studying the postcard.

"Then I'll make it simple for you, Ma. I'm not coming to Sunday dinner, how's that? And, in fact, I won't be coming to any more Sunday dinners if you keep using family time to set me up. I know Daddy can't approve of this," Jane said.

"Oh, so you're going to sit home, all by yourself on Sunday?"

"No, she's coming with me to the gallery," Maura said.

"Maura, it's OK, you don't have to cover for me anymore," Jane said, glancing sheepishly over at her friend. "Ma's figured it out."

Maura ignored her. "Do you really like Cecile's work?" she asked Jane.

What did this have to do with anything, Jane asked herself, but it might just be enough to distract her mother long enough for them all to get past this scene. "I do, actually," Jane said. "Are you surprised?" she challenged, a slight edge to her voice. While she tried not to let their class differences come between them, old habits sometimes fell hard.

"Yes," Maura said simply.

"Thanks," Jane said defensively. Between Maura and her mother this was turning into a pretty stellar lunch for her ego.

"I mean, you've never expressed any appreciation for art before," Maura explained. "Cecile's style is very unique. I heard her speak several months ago on the phenomenon of peak shift in art. Did you know that our tendency to find exaggeration of the human form aesthetically pleasing is a property of our nervous system's experience discriminating intradimensional stimuli? Psychologists documented this decades ago, when they discovered supernormal stimuli."

"I understood about three words in all of that," Angela said with a chuckle.

Keep it up, Maura, Jane thought. She might get them both off the hook after all.

"It's why we often see the human form with certain features enlarged and emphasized, especially those involving reproductive activities." Maura was leaning forward, now, eagerly explaining art to them.

"You mean like how women in comic books all have D-cups?" Jane asked.

Maura stopped and tilted her head to the side, looking confused for a moment. "I don't know," she said seriously. "I've never read a comic book." Jane would never admit it to anyone, but she loved watching Maura when she was like this, in full Google mode.

"Anyway," Angela said, breaking in. "Is Jane going with you or not on Sunday?"

"She is," Maura said. "You will?" She looked so excited Jane couldn't bring herself to say no, though to be honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to spend all Sunday afternoon dressed up and hanging around rich people. But, she did genuinely like Emily Cecile's work, and it would be a new experience. Maura spent enough time in her world, the least Jane could do is spend a little time in hers.

"All right," Jane said quietly, and grinned back at the delighted smile Maura gave her.

Maura reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll just call Calvin and tell him I'm taking someone else," she said, dialing a number with her thumb. Angela and Jane looked at each other in surprise.

"Maura, wait!" Jane said, putting her hand over the other woman's to stop her. "You didn't tell me you already had a date!"

"He's someone on the board of another charitable endowment I serve on," Maura said, then frowned at their confused expressions. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"Well, no," Jane said. "No, you should go with him. You can't just call him up and tell him you're taking someone else."

"Why not?" Maura asked.

"Because," Jane said, as if that explained everything.

"At least make up an excuse or something," Angela said. "Let him down easy."

Maura looked completely confused. "I don't understand," she said. "I'd rather go with Jane." For a moment, she sounded like a petulant child. "Besides, he simply wants to go out with me for sex," Maura said. "We could just as easily go to dinner, and do that afterwards," she added.

Jane covered her face with her hands, mortified that Maura had said this in front of her mother. She shifted her fingers slightly, and glanced at Angela out of the corner of her eye. Angela was staring at Maura, dumbfounded.

"I couldn't lie to him," Maura declared. "And, why is that better, anyway? Besides, we're all adults here," she said. She started to dial her phone again.

Jane reached over and grabbed the phone from her hand. "You see, this is why you don't have any friends," she said, irritated over the whole situation.

"Jane," Angela said, quietly.

Jane sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Jane was suddenly reminded of all those times in high school. She'd make plans with her friends, only to have them cancel on a moment's notice because a guy called. Except, this was sort of in reverse.

Her mother was apparently thinking along the same lines. "This has never happened to you before, has it, Maura?" Angela asked her kindly.

"What?"

"Who do you hang out with? Your girlfriends, or do you ditch them in a second for a guy," Jane said. The latter had happened to her dozens of times in high school.

"You should be flattered, Janie," Angela said. "She's choosing you over the guy. I remember how much that used to hurt you when you were a teenager."

"It used to piss me off," Jane corrected her.

"Same thing with you," Angela said. She and Jane exchanged a smile.

Maura sat watching the whole exchange, looking completely mystified. "Can I have my phone back?" she asked, holding out her hand.

There was no point in explaining things further. Jane felt her chest constrict slightly as she reluctantly handed the phone back to Maura. Not for the first time, she wondered what growing up had been like for Maura. While a part of her was glad Maura had never had to put up with having girlfriends abandon plans without warning, she felt sad at the realization that for Maura there had been no girlfriends to make plans with in the first place.

She and Angela watched as Maura dialed a number, then waited for someone to pick up. "Hello, Calvin?" Maura laughed. "Yes, about that. My friend Jane, I mentioned her to you? Well, I'd really like to take her to the gallery showing on Sunday." She listened for a moment. "No, instead of you," she said. Jane rolled her eyes.

"I give him ten more seconds and he hangs up," Angela leaned down and whispered into Jane's ear. Jane waved her away.

"I was thinking we—" Maura frowned, then pulled the phone away from her ear. "He hung up," she said, turning the phone off.

"Well, that takes care of that, then" Angela said, cheerfully. "I have to head out. You two have a good time on Sunday," she added, leaning down to kiss Jane on the cheek and waving to Maura as she left.

Jane sat there and studied Maura for several moments. Maura turned her attention back to the autopsy report spread out in front of them. She was making a good show of trying not to be bothered, but Jane could tell she was agitated.

"We have to work on your people skills," Jane said, softly.

Maura sighed. "Jane, I've been working on them my whole life. If I haven't figured it out by now, I think it's safe to say I'm not going to. But maybe you can explain something to me," she added.

"What's that?"

"You wanted to lie to your mother to get out of Sunday dinner. And, then you wanted me to lie to Calvin. Why? Why is lying better?"

Jane sighed. "Lots of reasons. Mostly, to save face and to avoid a scene." She couldn't believe she was sitting here explaining the purpose of lying to Maura. "Let's say, for example, you sleep with a guy and he's not very good in bed. But he asks you how he was. It's just easier to lie to him. He gets to feel good about himself, and you get to avoid a messy scene. Everybody wins."

"But, you didn't win, because you had a subpar sexual encounter. And, he goes away with the wrong idea about his sexual prowess," Maura said. "So the next person he sleeps with loses, too. If you told him the truth he could work on his technique, improve…"

"Okay, okay, okay," Jane said, rubbing her eyes. She suddenly didn't want to be having this conversation. "Most of us don't like having our faults pointed out to us," she said. "We don't use them as opportunities for self-improvement," she added, smiling wryly.

"Suppose I had lied to Calvin," Maura said. "Made up some story about how we couldn't go to the showing together. And then he found out I lied to him about it, that I went anyway with someone else."

"Speculation, Maura," Jane said, wagging her finger at her. "You don't know he'll find out when you lie to him. It's a chance you take."

"People always find out, Jane. You're a detective. You know that people eventually get caught in lies better than anyone."

"Lying to cover up a murder is not quite the same thing as lying to get out of a date," Jane said, laughing.

"To me, it is," Maura said, and Jane realized she was serious. "And you're right," Maura continued. "It's why I don't have friends. One of the reasons, anyway."

Jane felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She really shouldn't have said that. "I'm sorry about that," she said, sincerely.

"But why?" Maura asked. "It's the truth. Why should you apologize for telling the truth?"

"Because it hurt your feelings," Jane said, shrugging.

"Being lied to hurts more," she said softly.

Maura sat there, giving Jane a look she couldn't fathom. There was something akin to resignation in Maura's eyes, Jane realized after a few moments. But to what, she wondered.

And then it hit her.

She may be Maura's closest friend, her only friend, but Jane suddenly understood that Maura fully expected to alienate Jane at some point, when her inappropriateness, her brutal honesty become too much and Jane simply began to came up with excuses to not be around her anymore. To lie about what she was doing and why, to exclude her.

Just like everyone else.

"All right," Jane said, leaning toward Maura. "I promise never to lie to you to spare your feelings. How's that?" She extended her hand to Maura, resisting the temptation to spit into her palm like they used to do as kids. She didn't think Maura would go for that at all. "Shake on it."

Maura looked stunned. Then, she grinned and took Jane's hand. "Deal," she said. For a second, Jane wanted to pull her hand away, the enormity of what she was offering sinking in. But she didn't. "And of course I promise the same."

"Aw, Frost, look, they're holding hands and making promises," Korsak cooed, sauntering into the bullpen and breaking the mood.

Frost looked like he was about to say something, but the death glare Jane shot him changed his mind.

Maura laughed, and stood. "What time should I pick you up on Sunday?" she asked Jane. "And, what are you planning to wear?"

Jane glanced over at Korsak and Frost as Maura spoke, daring them to say something. "Let's…discuss it over drinks at the Dirty Robber tonight after work," she said, waving Maura away. "I have to put these two deadbeats to work now."


	3. Yes or No

**SUMMARY: Jane and Maura play twenty questions.**

**COMMENT1: Third in a series. Another one in this series that completely took on a life of its own as I was writing it, and it ended up being fairly different from what I had in my head.**

**COMMENT2: These are all loosely-connected one-shots. They are all more or less stand alone stories, but it is best to read them in order. Comments and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.**

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><p>"Jane?" Maura Isles entered the bullpen, the sound of her heels tapping loudly on the floor. "It's nearly six. I told Lis we'd be there by seven."<p>

"You know I don't like surprises, Maura. Why don't you just tell me where we're going tonight?"

"Because you'll just say you don't want to go," Maura said, bluntly.

"Well, that just makes me all excited to go, now!" Jane said sarcastically, waving her arms. "I'll just get my coat!"

"Good," Maura said, with a bright smile.

Jane thought about explaining how she was being sarcastic, and that if Maura didn't think she wanted to go if she knew, then Jane was positive she didn't want to go. But then Maura was smiling that smile, and Jane felt her resolve crumble. How did she do that, Jane wondered.

"Fine, fine," she grumbled. "I'm coming. But let's stop on the way for some food. I'm starving."

"They'll have wine and hors d'oeuvres there," Maura informed her as Jane shrugged into her blazer.

"What?" Jane asked her, frowning. "Am I dressed okay for this?"

"Not really," Maura said as they walked to the elevator.

"Well, then maybe we shouldn't go," Jane tried again. Maura just glared at her.

Jane would never admit it to Maura, but there were times when the directness of the other woman was definitely off-putting. Still, Jane told herself, she had asked, and her mother always told her not to ask questions she didn't want the answers to. Maura was the living, breathing personification of that adage, Jane thought. But that gave her an idea, Jane thought, deciding to throw caution to the wind.

"All right, we're going to play twenty questions about where we're going."

"What?" Maura asked. "No, you'll see when we get there."

"Twenty questions, or I go back upstairs and finish my paperwork, Maura," Jane said playfully. She'd never do it, of course, but sometimes it was fun to tease.

"You're being ridiculous, Jane," Maura said, but Jane saw a smile creep across her face as they headed toward Maura's car. "What are the rules?"

"I ask you questions, you answer them," Jane said with a shrug. "Simple, huh?"

"There have to be more rules than that. What if you ask me where we're going? I already said it was a surprise, so this game would defeat the purpose."

"They have to be yes or no questions," Jane informed her. Sometimes Jane forgot that there were weird gaps in Maura's knowledge base.

"See, you didn't tell me that. That's an important rule, Jane."

"My bad," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "OK, first question. Is this a party?"

Maura pulled out of the parking garage, and merged with evening traffic. "No," she said.

Not a party, but booze and snacks, this was interesting.

"Is it a concert?"

"No."

Jane was tempted to suggest that Maura was simply taking her out to dinner. But that didn't make any sense. They went out to dinner all the time, there was no reason for the secrecy.

"How many people will be there?" Jane asked.

"You said yes or no answers," Maura said quickly.

"Fine, fine. Will there be more than...fifteen people there?"

"No," Maura said again.

"More than five?"

Maura thought for a minute. "Yes."

"Does this have something to do with the exhibit you're taking me to on Sunday?"

Maura pursed her lips, annoyed. "Yes."

Jane was getting closer. All right, she mentally ticked off the clues she had so far in her head. Around ten people, food and wine, not a concert or a party. But it did have something to do with the gallery thing on Sunday.

"Will we be looking at things?" Jane asked. Jane noted that they'd left the downtown area and were headed toward one of the more exclusive areas of Boston.

"Yes," Maura said.

Well, it wouldn't be a gallery thing, since they were already doing that. A horrible thought struck her.

"Is it a lecture?" The last thing she wanted was to sit through an evening of boring lectures on art history, and the peak shift phenomenon, whatever the hell that was.

"No," Maura said with a chuckle at Jane's tone of voice. "But the Metropolitan Museum of Art does have a wonderful lecture series. We should attend one sometime," Maura added.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced guiltily over at Maura. "Uh, sure... Let's see," she continued. "Is it something for charity?"

"No," Maura said.

Jane was beginning to get frustrated. Maura simply looked amused. "Is it in someone's house?"

"No."

"Is it in a store?"

"No, and you've used up half your questions."

"Jeez, throw me a lifeline or something here," Jane grumbled. "Is it outside?"

"No. You aren't very good at this game," Maura observed, smiling.

Jane made a face at her. "Is it expensive?"

"Hmmm..." Maura frowned.

"What? Is it expensive, yes or no?"

"Is 'maybe' permitted as an answer?"

"Yes or no," Jane said, firmly. She was being petty, but she also wanted to get back at Maura for that crack about not being good at this. Besides, it wasn't like Maura knew the rules.

"Yes or no," Maura said.

"Yes or no?" Jane asked. "Which one?"

"Both, since you said maybe isn't allowed."

"You can't answer both," Jane said.

"It could reasonably be either one of those two choices. I think my answer is perfectly consistent with the rules you specified."

"It has to be one or the other," Jane admonished her. "You can't just change the rules mid-game."

"Then you'll have to rephrase the question," Maura said. "I can't answer it as it presently stands."

"Maura!" Jane said, exasperated.

"And, I wasn't changing the rules mid-game," Maura added. "That was another rule you neglected to inform me of before we started."

"Will you spend more than a hundred dollars," Jane growled.

"Jane, that's no better than the first question. I can't answer that one either."

Jane drew a deep breath and willed herself to be calm. This was hardly something worth fighting over. Besides, she'd started it. "Is it possible you could spend more than a hundred dollars tonight?"

Maura breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes," she said.

"More than a thousand?" Jane felt a little nosey, but she knew for a fact that Maura sometimes paid that much for a pair of shoes.

"Yes."

"Are we going to be looking at art"

"Yes."

"Art by Emily Cecile?"

"No."

"Work by a different artist, then?"

"Yes. Two questions left.""

"I don't need them," Jane said, confident that they were going to an art gallery of some sort. Maura probably wanted her to practice the etiquette of looking at paintings before Sunday. "And wait, what do you mean two more questions? I have four left."

Maura shook her head. "Two."

"Four," Jane countered. "The two I asked that you said you couldn't answer don't count."

"Why wouldn't they count?" Maura asked. "With that rule, you could ask improperly formatted questions as a means of fact finding, without wasting any of your twenty questions. It hardly seems fair."

"Well, you know what, Maura," Jane said. "I don't even need my last four questions because I know what we're doing tonight, and you were right, I don't want to."

"Is that so?" Maura said. "What are we doing then, Jane?"

"You're taking me to some hoitey toitey gallery somewhere so I can practice not embarrassing you on Sunday," Jane said.

Maura pulled into a reserved parking space in front of a brightly lit, two story glass fronted building. She turned the car off, and burst out laughing at Jane. "We're here," Maura said. "And you got it completely wrong. What do I win?"

"A lifetime supply of Rice-a-Roni," Jane deadpanned as she opened the car door and looked up at the building. She could see warm colors, and polished hardwood floors, but no works of art other than a few hanging on the wall that we're obviously just part of the decor. The sign on the door read "Lis Couture." "Hey, you lied," Jane said, pointing a finger at Maura over the roof of the car.

"Jane, you know I'm incapable of lying," Maura said, still laughing.

"You said we weren't going to a store." Jane pointed to the sign on the front.

"It's a private boutique, not a store," Maura said, making a face at her. "Come on, Lis is expecting us."

"Semantics, Maura," Jane said. "This is your big secret? Shopping? Really?"

"Not just shopping," Maura said, a gleam in her eye. "Lis invited me to a exclusive private showing of her spring line. You are my guest."

Maura looked so happy that Jane found herself grinning back at her. She also had to admit she was kind of intrigued, even though she really shouldn't be. She hated shopping. "So, what? We get to go in and look through her stuff after hours?" Was this how rich people shopped for clothes, Jane wondered.

"Even better," Maura said. "They're going to model everything for us."

"And we just sit and watch, and enjoy the champagne and caviar?" She tried to be sarcastic, but couldn't hide the fact that the idea appealed to her, even if everything in this place was way out of her price range.

"Exactly," Maura said with a grin, ushering Jane inside.


	4. In for a Penny

**COMMENT1: Fourth in a series. I'd say this is the weakest of the set, but it has a few nice moments to it. Someday I'll probably go back and edit the hell out of this to beef it up a bit.**

**COMMENT2: These are all loosely-connected one-shots. They are all more or less stand alone stories, but it is best to read them in order. Comments and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.**

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><p>"Why wouldn't they?" Maura demanded. They were standing in the morgue, on either side of the autopsy table. Jane stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring obstinately at Maura. Maura wore a pleading expression on her face that was slowly shifting to annoyance.<p>

"Because you did all the work," Jane said. "You donated the money, you forced me to train for the marathon."

"Forced you, I forced you to do something," Maura stated flatly. "Since when?"

Jane gaped at her. "Since all the time," she said waving her arms. "Yoga, you got me to do yoga. I still haven't figured out how in the hell you managed to do that."

"But you like it, right?" Maura tried to point out with a smile.

Jane just glared at her. The truth was, Jane did like it, sort of. But she wasn't about to admit she liked it. She figured it was enough that she kept going three mornings a week with Maura.

"Jane, it's just an awards ceremony and reception. It's the organization's way of showing their appreciation for helping them raise money. Most of the kids will be there."

Jane sighed. She'd been hoping for a quiet evening at home, and instead Maura was asking her to get all dressed up and spend the night at some stuffy charity event.

Sensing Jane's hesitation, Maura added, "I'll make it up to you."

That got Jane's attention. "You keep saying that," she said. "How? Precisely?"

Maura thought for a second. "Well, since you brought up yoga, how about we skip that for a week?"

Jane definitely liked the sound of that. "I can sleep in those mornings! I like this plan!"

"I didn't say that," Maura said carefully. "I just said that we could skip yoga."

"Skipping yoga means not getting up at 6am to go to yoga class," Jane told her.

"That's true," Maura said, picking up her coat and purse. "If we leave now, you should have enough time to go home and change. I'll pick you up for the reception at seven."

Reluctantly, knowing Maura wasn't going to take no for an answer, she followed.

"I was thinking," Maura continued. "Instead of yoga this week, we could rent a two-man crew boat and take it out onto the Charles River in the mornings. It's a good cardiovascular workout, and the river is lovely at dawn."

"How is making me get up even earlier to go out on a freezing river at dawn making it up to me?" Jane asked.

"It's a new experience," Maura said.

"So is sleeping in tomorrow," Jane pointed out as she held the door open for her.

"It'll be good for us," Maura continued.

"So will sleeping in tomorrow," Jane added, with a grin. After a moment, Maura couldn't help but smile back.

"Turn around for me again," Maura said, turning her hand in a circle to emphasize her word. Jane groaned but did as she was told. "You look beautiful, Jane!" Maura said again. "I wasn't too sure about the blouse at first, but it makes your skin glow."

"Okay, okay, stop now," Jane said at the third compliment. "You're making me feel self-conscious. Let's just go."

The reception was held at one of the fancier downtown hotels. Jane had to admit she was impressed. Every awards banquet, if they could even be called that, she'd ever gone to as a kid had been held at the local firehall, and hadn't looked nearly as well-heeled as this. Many local business leaders, and families of the kids who directly benefitted from the organization we're there. Jane soon found herself talking to a city councilman and the father of a shy teenage boy who would be going to a special science camp during the summer thanks to the money that they'd raised.

Sipping her wine, Jane caught sight of Maura in the corner, talking animatedly to a girl of about ten. She excused herself, and made her way over to them. Maura caught sight of her, and motioned her over.

"Jane, I'd like you to meet Sheila Carver. Sheila, this is Detective Rizzoli. And this is Sheila's mother, Karen," Maura added, gesturing to a small, brown-haired woman who had been hovering just to the right of Maura.

"It's a pleasure," Jane said, solemnly shaking first Sheila's hand, then Karen's.

"Sheila is the reason I got involved in P.U.K.E,".

Jane tried not to laugh as Maura pronounced each letter carefully, with a completely straight face. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sheila's mother grimace. Jane didn't blame her one bit.

"She's an amazing young artist. I was a judge at a local student art fair a year ago, and Sheila entered one of her sculptures. It was extraordinary."

Jane looked over at Maura curiously. She knew Maura donated a lot of money to charity, but until the race, and now this, she'd had no idea Maura was so directly involved in some of it. Jane wondered how Maura found the time, when she couldn't find time to do her laundry, and was constantly bringing it over to her parent's house whenever her mother demanded that she come by.

Sheila blushed at Maura's praise, and Karen beamed.

"We were just discussing what Sheila is going to be doing for the summer," Maura added. "I've been waiting all week to give them the good news."

"Oh, what's that?" Jane asked, interested, wondering how a budding young sculptor spent her summer holidays.

"Well," Sheila said, and Jane had the impression she was choosing her words very carefully. "Doctor Maura wants me and my mom to go to Paris, to study sculpture."

Jane's eyebrows rose. "Paris, huh?" she said, impressed. "That's exciting."

"I guess," she said. Jane had the distinct impression that Sheila wasn't terribly enthusiastic about the idea. Jane glanced up at Karen, and saw the same look on the girl's mother's face.

"Samuel is an amazing sculptor," Maura was saying, enthusiastically, oblivious to the uncertain expression on everyone's faces. "And a gifted teacher. You will learn so much from him."

"Well, I'm sure there are lots of local sculptors who would want to work with someone as gifted as Sheila, here," Jane said, looking pointedly at Maura.

"Well, of course there are, and some of them are very, very good, but this will be an amazing opportunity for you."

"I guess," Sheila said again, that same note of doubt creeping into her voice. "Most of my friends are just going to summer camp for two weeks," she added, wistfully.

"It's a generous offer," Mrs. Carver began, putting her hand on Sheila's shoulder. "But we really need to discuss it with Sheila's father, before we make any decisions."

Maura frowned. "Of course. I'll be happy to speak with your husband, Mrs. Carver. I'm sure I can answer any questions about this he might have."

This was awkward, though Maura seemed to be oblivious. She began describing Paris to Sheila in great detail.

"Would you excuse us for a second," Jane said, putting her hand on Maura's arm and flashing a sympathetic smile at Mrs. Carver. "Maura?" She waited until the two had moved off, then looked over at Maura to see that she was frowning after them.

"She doesn't want to go to Paris for the summer, does she?" Maura asked, and Jane was taken aback by the question. She'd thought Maura had been clueless.

"No, she doesn't," Jane said.

"Why not? It's an amazing opportunity. I had to pull a lot of strings to get him to agree."

"Because she's ten, Maura," Jane said, gently. "She's ten, and all her friends are going to camp and that's what she wants to do, too. She doesn't want to just pick up and go to a strange place where she doesn't know anyone."

"I did," Maura said, wistfully. "When I was ten."

Jane reached over and turned Maura to face her. "Maura, give her a few years. She'll be ready, then. And, your offer was amazingly generous. Her not going doesn't change that. You really are amazing, you know that?"

Jane smiled, as Maura ducked her head, a blush creeping up her face. "I suppose Samuel would rather have a student who wants to be there, instead of one I forced to go," she said. "What were you like? When you were ten?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Pretty much a shorter version of myself now. With pigtails."

Maura smiled. "I bet you were adorable."

"Oh sure, pigtails, skinned knees. Same exact chip on my shoulder."

"Do you think we would've become friends? If we'd met when we were ten?"

Jane had a flip answer on the tip of her tongue, but there was something in Maura's expression that silenced her for a moment. She had a sudden, clear image of what it might have been like. She could see the playground, drenched in late spring sun, as she played kickball with a bunch of boys, and a few girls thrown into the mix. Other kids, mostly girls who didn't like to play sports, sat around the edges in groups, watching and giggling to each other.

There was another girl, a pretty girl in a beautiful dress, sitting by herself. She had a book sitting open in her lap. No one paid any attention to her as she sat in the afternoon sun, amid the noise and dust, reading solemnly.

"I don't know," Jane said, honestly. She'd been boisterous and combative, even as a child, and ten was about the age she'd discovered she got along better with boys. She wasn't sure someone like Maura would've even been on her radar, other than as a curiosity, or as someone to avoid because she perceived them as being stuck up.

Maura seemed satisfied with that answer, however. "You're right. It's the present that counts."

Jane nodded, but could't help adding,"But I probably could've used your help passing geography."

"I was very good at geography," Maura admitted, and the solemn mood was broken. "So, tomorrow morning, Charles River?"

Jane groaned. "Only if that comes with a big, greasy breakfast, afterwards."

"Jane, that would completely defeat the purpose," Maura admonished.

"Coffee then. You at least have to buy me coffee."

"That I can do," Maura said.

As they gathered their coats, Jane glanced at her watch and saw that it was nearly 11pm. She groaned, again, realizing that, somehow, Maura had talked her into getting up in a few short hours to go rowing.

One of these days, Jane had to figure out how Maura did that.


	5. The End of the World

**SUMMARY: It's the end of the world as we know it, and desperate times call for desperate measures to save the ones you love.**

**COMMENT1: Fifth in a series. My reading list this year has been full of apocalyptic fiction, so I'm a complete sucker for "the end of life as we know it" scenarios. It seemed only fitting to briefly explore that scenario with my favorite pair.**

**COMMENT2: These are all loosely-connected one-shots. They are all more or less stand alone stories, but it is best to read them in order. Comments and constructive criticisms are always appreciated.**

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><p>The first thing Jane became aware of, as consciousness slowly returned, was that her head felt like it was going to explode. She must've moaned, because she felt someone move up beside her and a soft hand brush the hair back from her forehead.<p>

"I turned you on your side," a familiar voice said. "In case you vomited." The hand continued to pet her gently, as Jane struggled to figure out exactly what had happened. Had she had too much to drink last night at the Robber? But, even if she had, that didn't explain why she was lying on a hard floor, even if someone, probably Maura, had tucked something soft beneath her head.

"I feel like I'm going to die," Jane rasped, her throat horribly dry.

Maura didn't say anything, and Jane took the time to gather her strength and get her bearings. She pushed herself up onto one arm, and her stomach rolled horribly, forcing her back down. She breathed deeply in an effort not to throw up.

Reality crashed back over her in a wave. She hadn't been drinking at the Robber last night. There was no Robber to drink at anymore. There wasn't much of anything anymore and there hadn't been for months.

And Frankie…

"What happened?" she croaked. She hoped they weren't in deep, serious trouble, because Jane was pretty sure she did not have the strength to do much about it right now. But when Maura didn't answer her questions for several minutes, Jane rolled over and looked up at her.

Maura was crying.

That in and of itself wasn't actually cause for concern, Jane thought. Maura had never uttered a word of complaint about being dirty, hungry, cold, and constantly terrified, though Jane often heard her crying quietly, late at night, when she thought everyone else was asleep or distracted by guard duty. Jane had managed to find a safe haven for them all, had gotten her parents, Frankie, and Maura safely there, along with a few precious mementos, family photo albums mostly. All Maura had been left with were the designer clothes on her back.

Each day since, Maura grew more and more silent. Jane knew she was losing Maura, and she didn't know what to do about it.

But being here, wherever here was, and Maura crying was definitely cause for alarm. Local mob bosses had been quick to set up shop throughout the city, trafficking in all manner of goods. It was no secret that one of the commodities sought after were women. Jane didn't need to be a detective to know why women we being rounded up, but she had no intention of being anyone's slave. She forced herself to sit up, and willed herself not to pass out as her vision faded for a moment.

"Where are we?" she asked, trying to keep the note of panic out of her voice and failing miserably. She shifted over, so that she was sitting next to Maura, the warmth of her arm where it touched her own comforting.

Jane looked around at what looked like a warehouse, and her feeling of dread grew even stronger. There were small holding cages, with cartons and boxes secured with heavy straps inside them, lining a narrow hallway. The two of them sat in a tiny, empty storage bay lit by a single florescent bulb. Whoever had them had electricity, which meant they were probably one of the larger operations in Boston.

This was bad.

"We're in a plane," Maura said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. It was then that Jane realized the humming in her ears wasn't from whatever knocked her out.

"What?" she exclaimed, trying to rise. Maura caught her arm and tugged her down, and Jane was weak enough that she didn't put up much fight. "Maura, tell me what happened." They needed to start figuring out how to get out of this mess and back to Boston, quick.

"It's not what you think, Jane," Maura said, still clutching her arm. "We're not in any danger. Just the opposite, actually."

"I don't understand," Jane said. God, her head hurt.

"I know. I've been sitting here waiting for you to wake up, trying to figure out how I was going to explain all this to you."

"Explain what, Maura?" Jane was beginning to lose patience.

"Doyle's been leaving us food, did you know that?" Maura asked. It wasn't what Jane was expecting.

"Yeah, I knew, but what does that have to do with anything?" She didn't think Doyle would turn his own daughter over to sex slave traders. When the boxes of food had started showing up outside their door, Jane had immediately understood who they were from. She hadn't been sure, until now, that Maura had guessed as well. It had been Doyle who'd brought Frankie's body back to them, too, Jane was sure.

"About ten days after the disaster, he came while I was on guard duty."

Jane frowned. She liked to think she was always aware of what was going on around them, but she'd had no idea. "You left with him?" she asked, appalled that Maura would do that, would go with her biological father and leave them all unguarded.

"He left some men to watch over you. He just wanted to talk. I…" Maura's voice trailed off. "Don't be mad," she said.

Jane sighed, and tried to clamp down on the sudden spike of fear that had overtaken her. She obviously needed to watch over her family more carefully from now on. "I'm not mad, Maura. Just tell me where we are."

"I'm getting to that."

"OK, so you went with him. Why? I thought you didn't want anything to do with him."

"I didn't…I don't. But, he was leaving us food. I thought I owed it to him to listen to what he had to say. He gave me this." Maura held out a thick, creased envelope. Jane saw that it bore the presidential seal.

"He said he found it at my house a few days after…"

Jane looked away at that. After the earthquake, or shockwave, or whatever it had been had hit, things had been pretty chaotic, and Jane had gone into survival mode immediately. Her first thought was to get everyone she cared about to safety, and that had included Maura. She hadn't allowed Maura to go home, knowing that she would try to bring several suitcases.

And Bass. Jane didn't think she'd ever stop feeling guilty about Bass.

Jane unfolded the letter and immediately noticed the presidential seal on the thick, ivory vellum. Glancing down, she examined the inked signature. He had signed this himself. With a glance over at Maura she began to read.

_DEAR DR. ISLES,_

_AS YOU UNDOUBTEDLY KNOW BY NOW, WE ARE FACED WITH A CRISIS OF UNPRECEDENTED MAGNITUDE. AN ASTEROID OF SIGNIFICANT SIZE IMPACTED THE EARTH IN THE OHIO VALLEY FIVE DAYS AGO. WHILE WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO STABILIZE OUR CITIES, TO PROVIDE SECURITY AND RESOURCES FOR OUR CITIZENS, DRASTIC MEASURES ARE ALSO NECESSARY FOR OUR SURVIVAL._

_YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS LETTER AS PART OF A COORDINATED EFFORT TO MAKE CERTAIN OUR FUTURE IS, IN SOME MEASURE, ENSURED. SEVERAL HIGHLY SECURE AND PROVISIONED FACILITIES WERE ESTABLISHED OVER A DECADE AGO BY MY PREDECESSORS, FOR USE IN JUST SUCH A CATASTROPHE. THEY HAVE BEEN STAFFED AND MAINTAINED IN THE EVENT OF EXACTLY THE CRISIS WITH WHICH WE ARE NOW FACED._

_IN ORDER FOR US TO EMERGE FROM THIS CRISIS, WE NEED THE HELP OF INDIVIDUALS WITH UNIQUE TALENTS AND SPECIALIZATIONS THAT WILL BE NECESSARY ONCE THE CRISIS HAS DISSIPATED. AS ONE OF THE PRE-EMINENT FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS IN THE NATION, YOU WILL HAVE A VITAL ROLE IN SHAPING OUR FUTURE._

_I REGRET THAT I CANNOT EXTEND THIS INVITATION TO YOU IN PERSON, OR IN A MORE PERSONALIZED MANNER. THE ENCLOSED DOCUMENTS PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS. I ALSO REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR PARTICIPATION IS NOT VOLUNTARY. MILITARY PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN SENT TO COLLECT YOU AND I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO COOPERATE WITH THEM._

Jane stopped reading and looked up at Maura, amazed. "They sent a letter? The world ends, and they sent a letter?"

Maura actually laughed a little at that. "Doyle said there were soldiers there, waiting for me."

"So you could've been safe," Jane said, softly. "If I hadn't…" She thought she'd been acting in everyone's best interests by forcing Maura to stay with them so she would be safe. Why had Doyle brought this to Maura, she wondered. It seemed so cruel.

Maura just looked at her, her eyes glistening again with tears. "The enclosed documents indicated that I could bring someone with me, just one person, provided they were under the age of thirty-five and had an acceptable set of skills. There's a list."

It was beginning to dawn on Jane what was going on. She looked at the letter again, then she looked around at all the boxes and supplies. "Oh my God," she whispered.

"When Doyle and I spoke, he told me the soldiers told him they'd be in and out of the city collecting supplies for a few weeks, and that if he brought me to them, they'd take me to the facility. Doyle asked me if I'd go with him. I told him no."

That snapped Jane out of her own whirling thoughts. "What?" she asked. "Why? You could've been safe. Why didn't you go with him?"

"I knew you'd never leave your family behind," Maura said softly. "And I couldn't leave you."

Jane was speechless. She stared at Maura. "You could've taken Frankie," she choked out, finally. "He could've been safe."

Instead, he'd gotten himself hung from a traffic light as a warning to others about scavenging for food in one of the gang areas. Jane would never forgive herself for that.

"He wouldn't have left, either," Maura said firmly, shaking her head.

Jane knew she was right, neither one of them would've left their parents behind.

They sat quietly for several moments, until they heard footsteps. A young Marine came over to them. "Is everything all right, Doctor Isles? Do you need anything?"

"Could we have some water, please?" Maura asked. He opened the door and handed her two bottles of water. "Thank you," Maura said.

"We'll be landing in approximately two hours," he added. "I'll check on you between now and then."

"You should sip it slowly, Jane," Maura said handing her a bottle.

"So we're on the way to this facility?" Jane added. When Maura nodded, Jane glared at her. "You know I'm not staying, right?"

"Your mother said you'd say that," Maura said, handing her another thick envelope. Jane recognized her mother's handwriting.

"Your mother found the information packet Doyle gave me while she was cleaning up my...area right after we lost Frankie," Maura told her as Jane sat staring at the envelope. "She confronted me and told me I had to take you. When I told her that I didn't think you'd go willingly, she informed me that she wasn't going to let that stop her."

"And you went along with it," Jane said. She didn't want to sound accusatory, but she was angry, now. At her mother, at Maura, at everyone. They had no right to do this.

Maura studied Jane for several minutes. "I know you're angry," she said.

"Angry doesn't even begin to cover it," Jane said, her voice even and deadly.

"Jane, you have to know, I would have stayed there, with you and your family, until...until the end. I didn't want to go to this place, and certainly not by myself, knowing the people I care about most are outside, suffering. So I understand why you are angry, but hear me out, first. Then, if you're still angry, we'll find some way to go back to Boston, no matter what it takes."

Jane regarded her for a moment, her mother's letter still clutched in her hands. "Keep talking," she said, finally.

"After your mother found that letter, she became obsessed," Maura said. "I realize now I should've destroyed it. I don't know why I didn't. I told Angela to forget about it, that you wouldn't go, and I wouldn't go without you, and I wouldn't be a party to forcing you. She wouldn't stop."

Jane knew how that was. In the best of circumstances, her mother had a bulldogish stubbornness when it came to matters of family, and what she thought was best. With everything that had happened, Jane realized this was probably how her mother's sorrow over losing Frankie had manifested itself. Here she had a golden opportunity to make sure one of her children was spared amid the chaos. In a way, Jane could hardly blame her for becoming obsessed.

"I was pretty adamant, so she stopped talking to me about it eventually," Maura said. "Obviously, she continued planning."

Jane had a sudden image of walking into a room to a hushed conversation between Maura and her mother, other interrupted conversations between her parents. More and more, she found her mother and father huddled together, discussing something intently. But there'd been food and weapons to scavenge, looters and thieves to watch out for, guard duty to arrange, and a million other things that needed to be done. She'd decided shortly into the ordeal that they couldn't stay in the city, but getting them all out had proven to be harder than she thought it would be, and the planning for it was consuming her.

She'd missed all the signs, she realized now. Her mother had planned this whole thing right under her nose, and she'd been too distracted to see it.

"She drugged me last night, didn't she?"

"Yes, and Jane, I swear I didn't know she was going to do that. I was terrified when you collapsed, but she assured me it would be all right."

"Wait, if you didn't know anything about it, where'd she get it?"

"Doyle," she said simply, looking away with a troubled expression on her face. "She must've found a way to contact him. She convinced him to help her. He came in just as I was trying to revive you, and had some of his men take you out to a van he had waiting outside. Your mother and father gave me that envelope and told me you were going with Doyle one way or the other, and I had a decision to make. They made me swear to take care of you. Doyle took us to a military checkpoint and handed us over. The last thing he said to me was that he would make sure your parents were taken care of, and that I should tell you not to worry about them." The words came in a rush, as if Maura was glad to get this all out in the open. "And that he was sorry about Frankie," she added softly.

Jane sat still for a moment, breathing deeply. She still felt like crap, but the water was helping.

"Maura," she said. "I can't leave my parents all alone out there."

"Do you want some privacy while you read your letter?" she asked, leaning slightly into Jane.

"No," Jane said. "I'm not going to read it." She held the envelope up and moved to tear it in two, but Maura's hands shot out and stopped her.

"Don't," she said. "Don't. Even if we do go back to Boston, nothing is certain. You know that." She didn't say Frankie's name, but they both knew that's what she was thinking. "This may be the only part of them you have left."

They sat there, Maura's hand over top of Jane's, while Jane shook. "What aren't you telling me, Maura?" she finally asked, her voice thick with tears. She knew there was one more horrible twist to this story.

"Just read the letter, Jane," was all she said. She started to get up, but Jane shifted her hand to grasp one of Maura's, pressing their palms together.

"Stay," Jane said. Maura eased back down until she was leaning against Jane again.

With shaking fingers, Jane slowly opened the envelope. It was crammed with photographs from her mother's cherished family albums. She smiled as she shuffled through them, showing Maura pictures of the tiny village in Italy where her great grandmother had been born, another of her grandparents, a candid of her parents dancing at their wedding, baby pictures of herself, Tommy, and Frankie. She and her brothers grew older in those photographs, passing from childhood to adolescence across dozens of holidays and family vacations. Her parents were in many of them, smiling over them. By the time she reached the end of the pile and found the neatly folded piece of paper, they were both crying.

Jane sat staring at the folded piece of paper, caressing it gently with her thumb. "I don't want to read this," she said.

Without a word, Maura reached over and took it from Jane's fingers, carefully opened it, and began to read.

"My darling Janie,

"Your father and I have been working on this letter for almost two weeks. Even though I'm doing the writing, this is from the both of us. We love you so much. You've taken such good care of all of us your whole life, especially these last few months. You saved us all."

"Now it's time for us to save you. Your father and I know you well enough to know that your first thought is going to be to come back to Boston, to come back to us. There is no easy way to tell you this, so we will just say it bluntly, and hope that someday you will understand."

Maura's voice faltered here for a moment.

"We have lived a good and happy life together," she continued, her voice choked by emotion. "We will not be here if you return. So, you must stay with Maura, to protect her. When the time comes to rebuild the world, you must be there to help. They will need you."

"We are both so sorry it has to be this way, but we know how stubborn you are. Your father is telling me I shouldn't bring that up now, but it's true. You are stubborn. And fierce, and beautiful, and loving, and we are so proud of you. I should have told you that more often, how proud I am of you. I'm sorry I didn't, but I am telling you now and hope it isn't too late."

"Don't feel sad for us. We have had a good life. Parents live on through their children, so we will always live on in you. We know you will take good care of each other. We love you both."

"Love, Mommy and Daddy."

They were both silent for several moments after Maura finished. Jane dropped the photographs into her lap, and covered her face as she began to weep uncontrollably. She felt Maura's arms wrap around her, which just made her cry harder, burying her face deep into Maura's shoulder. Maura stroked her hair, not saying anything, simply holding her.

Finally, tears spent, Jane pulled away and scrubbed at her face. She couldn't look at Maura, not yet anyway, so she carefully began to gather up the photographs in her lap, putting them in chronological order and tucking them safely back into the envelope. She would keep these always, safe and close to her heart.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you go home," she blurted suddenly, still not looking at Maura. She hadn't appreciated, until this moment, how important these small pieces of her old life were to her. "You don't have anything," she said, and she felt fresh tears prick her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I have you," Maura said, simply.


End file.
